It says a lot about a book like this that it's taken me months to get through. I consider myself to be a fairly efficient operator in the office, butIt says a lot about a book like this that it's taken me months to get through. I consider myself to be a fairly efficient operator in the office, but Allen's first chapter should have been called 'Keeping Yourself Sufficiently Interested In This Self-Evident Nonsense To Actually Get Through It'.

Apparently I'm supposed to organise my work so that I do each task one by one, aiming for the goal of having nothing in my inbox. Is this news? Allen claims to have helped executives all over America become more efficient using this methodology. I'll leave it to others to draw conclusions as to the organisational skills of some of these people....more

Steven Pinker has written a quite marvelously reasoned, eye-opening argument that humankind is becoming decreasingly violent. I cannot recommend PinkeSteven Pinker has written a quite marvelously reasoned, eye-opening argument that humankind is becoming decreasingly violent. I cannot recommend Pinker's approach, his research, or his logic enough.

Between Steven Pinker and Jared Diamond, there may just be some hope that we are not going to wipe ourselves off the planet very soon!...more